1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk dispensing apparatus which dispenses disks laterally from a distal end of a guiding path after aligning and guiding the disks on the guiding path in a state in which outer peripheral edges of the disks are brought in contact with each other. In particular, the present invention relates to a dispensing apparatus capable of changing a dispensing direction of a disk easily with an adjustable ejector unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Incidentally, the term “disk” used in this text embraces a coin which is a currency, a medal for a game machine, a token money such as a token, and things of like kind.
There has been a configuration where coins in a hopper are fed out, one by one, by a rotary disk, and then the coins are aligned and guided upward by an escalator apparatus extending vertically upward. The coins are ejected or flipped out laterally from a guiding path due to a returning force of a restricting roller in an ejecting unit provided at an exit end of the guiding path. The ejecting unit includes the restricting roller, a lever, and a spring. In the dispensing apparatus, an oscillating movement of the lever is detected by a sensor to obtain a signal of a coin dispensed. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,081.
Similarly, in a coin sending apparatus which ejects a coin sent by a coin feeding apparatus and guided upward on a guiding path of an escalator apparatus from a distal end thereof, there has been known a dispensing apparatus where an ejection mechanism is configured with a roller which is biased resiliently and guided linearly. In this conventional apparatus, a dispensing direction of a coin can be changed by disposing a position of the roller on the right or the left to be shifted with respect to the guiding path. Reference can be made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,172,503.
In a case of changing a coin exit from a left-facing to, for example, right-facing orientation, such members as a pivoting lever, a roller, and a movement hole of the roller of an ejecting unit which is positioned at an exit of a guiding path and biased to one side of the guiding path must be replaced with alternative members having shapes and structures suitable for the right-facing exit. This is because there can be a problem in that a length of the guiding path must be changed to a length corresponding to a diameter of a coin.
On the other hand, a roller which is a dispensing member at a dispensation time of a coin receives a reactive force from the coin, so that a shaft supporting the roller is brought in pressure contact with a guiding groove face. Due to repetition of this pressure contact, a recessed portion is formed on the pressure-contacting portion. For this reason, a problem could occur so that smooth dispensation cannot be continued due to the shaft caught in the recessed portion.
Accordingly, there is a demand to provide an easily adjusted and compact ejection unit that can accommodate different size disks and be adjusted to alter the dispensing direction of the disks.